


Masks

by In_The_Ghost_Mode



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU, But I am trash so..., Danny has issues, Fluff and Angst, Full HAZMAT AU, Gen, I love all of you, I tried my best, Like, Old work, One again, all of yous, and edited, but dont we all?, enjoy this trash, gold mines, here, like a ratcoon in the mist of a dark night, not that any of you are ratcoons, please, read /my/ stuff?, read and weep, used to be only on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_The_Ghost_Mode/pseuds/In_The_Ghost_Mode
Summary: An Alternative universe where Danny wears a full, proper, HAZMAT suit. And even if the clothing never protects his skin or his scull from the smallest to the most severe damages...It does a good job of hiding his face, from both the rest of the world and as vain and simple as it sounds, himself.





	Masks

 

 

Danny Fenton, in Phantom form, has never seen his own face. Some might call the reason vain or illogical, but it drove him to never look under the HAZMAT helmet no less.

He didn’t want to take off the mask and discover a shriveled and shrunken corpse, fried from the electricity. Or find in the mirror what his parents told him about that hid under beds and in the dark corners of the Ghost zone. Plus, it underhandedly helped him keep his identity a secret.

Of course, Danny didn’t really have an idea of what he looked like or how monstrous his features really were. But the fact that his eyes glowed like two green headlights through the dark films were definitely not a reassuring sign.

To put it simple and blunt, Danny was terrified of the truth. Whatever that might be.

And then, there are moments like _these_.

Danny tossed down the newspaper on the school lunch table, “How can they possibly think that I’m an old man?!”

Tucker shrugged, nonchalant. “I don’t know dude.”

Danny huffed in annoyance. “One would think that they could tell how old I am with my voice.”

Sam took a bite out of her P.J. sandwich, voice thick. “I think it’s the echo in your voice that throws everybody off.”

Danny blinked, “I have an echo?”

Tucker nodded, “In Phantom form,”

Danny slouched in his seat as mist pooled out of his mouth. It came out modestly, Danny bet that it was the Box Ghost. _Again_.

Sam eyed the blue mist, “... Do you think that you need us for this one?”

Danny shook his head. “Naw, I think it’s just the Box Ghost. Or someone at that level,”

Tucker, who was tense and ready to go once again relaxed in his chair. “Go get ‘em man.”

Danny raised his quart of milk, swung and finished it in one gulp, rubbed his chin and walked out of the lunch room to transform in a more secluded area.

_…_

It was a trap.

A very well done, simple, and thought out trap. But a trap none-of-the-less.

The Box Ghost was only bait, a hoodwink to his ghost sense. He left as soon as Danny came, all warning that something wasn’t right. An innocent gauze to hide what was behind the curtain. Which was a whole horde of ghosts.

Danny faintly wondered what higher power he invoked to deserve this.

And to add the cherry on top, Vlad, of all people, was seemingly the one in charge. (Of course. _Of course_ it's Vlad. With his stupid ponytail and stupid, _stupid_ rich snobby attitude. And creepy plans to screw with is mom and kill his dad. Like it was a game of Kill, Screw and _make child to slave_ _mentoree_. Damn it, who else could it be? Certainly not someone other then Vlad, that's who.)

Oh, and he was tied up with some alien charm around his neck. All were, of course, ghost proof.

Great. _Just great_. Danny should’ve had expected less from a Monday.

There was, however, only one question that circled in Danny's mind...

 _Why_?

Danny looked around him. Seeing Youngblood, Dora, Frostbite, Kitty and Johnny, Ember as well as Ghostwriter. All ghosts that he had a pretty ok relationship to say the least. And that just left him- utterly confused. Even with Vlad added to the mix, nothing made sense.

Another part of the reason being was that they all looked so... unsure. Even Vlad.

Danny felt his HAZMAT helmet shift when he turned to Frostbite, the one that Danny trusted the most in this room to give him a straight and honest answer. “Hey, um, what the _hell_ is going on?”

Frostbite hesitated, looking a bit guilty

 _Good._ Danny thought.

“We needed to know, great one.”

Danny would usually ask Frostbite to use his other name, Phantom, but this was a special case. Instead he narrowed his eyes, even if no one could see. “Know _what_?”

To Danny's mild surprise, Ghostwriter intervened, “It’s odd, isn’t it?”

Danny looked lost.

Ghostwriter leaned down and closer. “That a _ghost_ , and one who calls himself a hero no less, of all beings feels the need to hide his face.”

Danny’s eyes widen, soon all the pieces clicked together at an alarming rate.

“So, you’re telling me…” Danny made a face, “that all of you teamed up _just_ to see what my face looked like?”

Kitty grinned, turning to Ember. “Call it mutual curiosity if you will.”

“And concern.” Dora added.

Danny frowned “... Concern?”

“Know what? Never mind. What's the thing around my neck?” Danny asked.

Vlad, in his Plasmas form, crossed his arms. “A relic.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “Well _no duh_. What does it _do_ , Frootloop?”

“forces shape-shifters into their true form, sucker.” Johnny said.

Danny paused and decided to ignore that statement. “How long have you guys been planning this!?”

Youngblood smirked. “Long enough. Now, enough waiting. I came here to see what he looked like!”

Danny felt his face drain of all color and his heart, or whatever he used for a heart in this form, raced. Instinctually he tried to raise his hands to cover his himself, but the blinds held them down.

He felt the fabric side up against his face, and in the next moment, he felt the stale air leave him.

Unmasked he was, just like that.

It was dead silent.

“Oh... my god, you’re just a _kid._ ” Ember's tone was blank, her face was blank.

Phantom, savior of the dead and protector of the living, was just a _boy_.

A boy that looked far too human, much to the group's discomfort.

Danny was also silent, and the binds suddenly disappeared. But he didn’t run away. Instead, for the first time, he took off his gloves and brought a hesitant hand to his face. It felt undeniably, absolutely _human_. Even with the faint ghostly glow.

Vlad's lips tightened to a thin line as he scanned Danny over and over, seemingly shocked, and he _knew_ of Danny's human half.

Danny looked back at Ember and scowled, “So what if I’m a child?” He looked at the group as a whole. “It’s not like that’s gonna stop you.”

He waved a hand at Youngblood, “besides, isn’t he a kid?”

Kitty shook her head, “Naw, not really, he just has a serious case of Peter Pan syndrome. He died at 32.”

Youngblood squirmed, “ _Guuuyyys_!” He whined, “Did we have to tell him that?!”

Danny ignored him and frowned, “What about the rest of you?”

Ember snorted, “You flatter me baby pop, but I was 24 when I died.”

Ghostwriter raised a hand. “26.”

Johnny gave a nod, “21.”

Kitty shrugged, “20.”

Dora rung her hands. “22.”

Frostbite said nothing, he didn't really need to.

Dora looked at anywhere but Danny. “And how old were you?”

Danny winced at the past tense. “… 14. I am- _was_ 14.” He then stubbornly shook his head. “Why do you care about my age? What about Pointdexer? Or that kid I met when I first came in the Ghost zone? Or- “

Ember snorted. “Not all are whom they seem. Plus, its rare. But not _impossible_.”

Johnny gave him a strange look. “This is because most kids know better than to stick around for the ‘afterlife.’ More often than not they’ve had enough of a sucky life and decide to move on. Hence their short lives.” He hesitated. “Because of that, we don’t really see that many children in the ghost zone.”

“ _oh_.” Even to Danny's ears, his voice came out as a soft whisper.

“Plus, the creepier the ghost looks, the less human their soul is.” Youngblood added, like a kid swapping horror stories.

“Well, maybe not our souls per say. But… mindset? Perhaps?” Ghostwriter added, unsure.

Kitty nodded. “Yeah. Something like that.”

"And great one, you look very…” Frostbite searched for a word. “H _uman_.”

Danny looked back at Frostbite. “That can’t be completely true-”

“Frostbite wasn’t born human." Dora said. "He was born in the ghost zone.”

It was quiet for a bit. And it was an awkward silence.

Vlad was the only one who put an effort to ignore the tension in the air. “I don’t know why you expected any ghosts to trust you with a mask on, Daniel. We all expected the worse to be frank with you badger.”

Danny narrowed his eyes, finally seeing Vlad’s true motives. This was a cheap shot for Danny to lose the all and any trust the other ghost had for him. “I see.”

Frostbite held out a hand to help Danny up. “My deepest regrets. But do you see… do you see why we had to know?”

Danny wordlessly accepted the offer, “Yeah, I can see why.”


End file.
